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NFL Punishes Saints For Bounties; Obama Supporting Southern Part of Pipeline; Mississippi Hate Crime; Twitter Turns Six; Trayvon Martin Case Sparks Outrage Nationwide; Sean Penn Honored for Good Works in Haiti; Mysterious Night Sounds in Wisconsin; Safeway: No More Pink Slime

Aired March 21, 2012 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: I want to bring in Ed Lavandera who joins us again in New Orleans who is on the phone. And Ed, do we have any response or reaction from the Saints?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, not yet. We're obviously in the process of working on that as we speak, and obviously this is a huge setback for them as I think you guys have been talking about. The Saints head coach Sean Payton essentially gone for the entire season. So, this will be a situation where they'll have to kind of rearrange how they do and how they do business for this upcoming season, and this will be a topic of heated debate here in the city of New Orleans.

Sean Payton has been a beloved figure ever since the Saints won the Super Bowl back in -- after the 2009 season in the years after hurricane Katrina. And Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees, you know, were the faces of this team and in the city for a team that had done so much to kind of bring this city out of the doldrums here. So, the punishment against him, I think, will be a hot topic of debate here in the city.

MALVEAUX: Obviously, yes, a lot of people -- New Orleans Saints being one of my favorite teams having my family being from New Orleans. Really, I mean, culturally, it is a part of that community there. Do we know if any of the players are also going to be suspended? If there's going to be any kind of punishment for the players as well?

LAVANDERA: There's no question that players will be punished somehow, but in this statement that's just been released by the NFL, issuing a statement that says the discipline for the players is still being looked at, and none of those announcements will be made today, and that will come at a later time. But if this is any indication as to what some of these players might expect, I mean, these are stiff, stiff punishments that have been handed down by the NFL, and I wouldn't be surprised if what is levied against some of these players goes right along with these lines. So, you know, they're kind of getting a taste of the medicines -- of the medicine that's about to come their way.

MALVEAUX: All right, Ed. Thank -- LAVANDERA: Suzanne, if I can, one of the reasons they may be delaying discipline against the players is if that the Players Association is currently conducting its own investigation of this. And so, the league may wait until the Players Association has concluded its investigation before it proceeds with, you know, disciplining the players.

MALVEAUX: And Jim, I want to ask you, does this sound like this is an expected and reasonable punishment, what you expected when you see this kind of behavior, or does it look like they're trying to make them an example for the rest of the league and the rest of those teams?

LAVANDERA: I believe both. I believe that they're definitely trying to make an example of them because, look, according to Roger Goodell and the league's statement previously that Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis were warned that this was going on, and they were told to stop it and they never stopped it. So, from the league's standpoint, it feels it has to come down hard and make an example out of these guys.

And the other issue here, and you can't ignore this, is that in the climate of the NFL today with the focus on concussions and brain trauma, et cetera, you know, the league has to be concerned about lawsuits that come forward from players down the road. And if players can prove that there were these bounty systems where players were going after players attempting to injury them with the blessing of their teams, then all of a sudden the league has a problem on its hands. So, I believe that's why Roger Goodell and the league wants to be so tough in this area, and I believe that's why they came down so hard on Sean Payton, Mickey Loomis and the Saints.

MALVEAUX: And finally, Jim, I do want to clarify this. Do you believe that this is something that is isolated within this team itself, or -- and they just got caught because there was a paper trail or do you believe this is more widespread within the league?

LAVANDERA: It depends what we're talking about. If we're talking about rewarding players for things like forced fumbles, sacks, big hits, those sorts of things, it goes on on almost every team, but it does not go on on every team where you specifically set out to injury a player or you reward players for injuring an opponent or having an opponent carted off the field. All of the players that I have talked to say that that crosses the line. But in terms of rewarding players under the table for forced fumbles, sacks, interceptions, big hits, those sorts of things, almost every player I have talked to has told me it goes on on every team.

MALVEAUX: Jim trotter, Ed Lavandera, thank you -- both of you very much. And we're going to have a follow-up of this story as soon as we get more information.

Keystone pipeline extension is back on the fast track, or at least part of it is. Sources say the president wants to cut the red tape holding back the construction of the southern portion of this pipeline that is coming from Canada. So, I want you to check out the map here and see what it's all about. The part where the green arrow is pointing, that's the part of the pipeline the president wants to speed up. Now, the goal is essentially to bring down oil prices in the long term, maybe shoot down some of the attacks coming from Republican candidates on the campaign trail as well. The problem is there's still a big chunk of the pipeline that has to go through some fragile terrain that could threaten an important water source.

Dan Lothian is joining us from the White House to talk about what this all means and potentially why the White House did this in the first place. So Dan, we know that a lot of environmentalists, they're going to be quite upset and disappointed with the president about this -- what looks like a change in direction here. Is there any concern that he loses their support in a really critical time during the campaign?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well you know, as one political observer said, you know, the base isn't going to run and vote for Mitt Romney or another Republican. They'll stick by the president, but clearly not happy about this. They had been pleased, as you pointed out, that the president did reject the northern part of this pipeline, which would flow from Canada into the United States, but not happy about this latest move which is to embrace the pipeline that would move oil from Cushing, Oklahoma down to Texas, the Gulf Coast there for this oil to be refined.

But the bottom line, here, is the White House realizes that there's some negative poll numbers out there surrounding the high gas prices, that Americans are very concerned, so they want the president to go out there and to show his long-term vision for good energy policy. Although we do know that this pipeline, at least in the short term, will have no direct impact on gas prices.

MALVEAUX: Is this enough to quiet some of the Republicans who have really been hammering the president's energy policy?

LOTHIAN: You know, it really isn't because what they're pointing out is on the one hand, the president is rejecting the northern part of this pipeline that they believe would have created jobs, but yet he's embracing this southern part of the pipeline, a part that really the president has no control over.

Since it's a domestic pipeline, he has no control over approving it, and, in fact, a spokesperson for speaker John Boehner's office saying, quote, only a -- "this is a desperate administration would inject the president of the United States into this trivial matter." Going on to say, quote, "this portion of the pipeline is being built in spite of the president not because of him." So, this just makes this whole situation even more political, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Not surprising. All right, Dan, thank you.

Here's a rundown on some of the stories we're covering over the next hour. First, today, Twitter turning six. Are we really better off now that we live in a world where people can share their every waking moment with the rest of the world? And actor Sean Penn, he was slammed by some in the media for traveling to Haiti after the earthquake to try to lend a hand. Well, now he's getting recognition for his efforts.

And then, it's a pill you can find in any medicine cabinet anywhere and it may also now be a powerful tool for fighting cancer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: New developments in the horrific hate crime case of a white Mississippi teenager accused of murdering an African-American man. The attack of James Craig Anderson happened last year when it was captured on surveillance video. The main suspect is about to have a plea hearing and Drew Griffin, he's been following this story from the very beginning.

So, before we get to what's happening today, I want to remind our viewers of the details that were reported right after the killing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The death of James Craig Anderson was like the dark Mississippi past come back to life. Prosecutor Robert Smith had only heard the tales of racial hatred from his grandfather who helped and even housed civil rights leaders like Medgar Evers and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was before smith was even born, back in the '60s when both men were shot down in a terrible wave of racial violence. On June 26th, that ugly past was suddenly present.

(on camera): When you first saw the video, the surveillance video, what was your reaction?

ROBERT SHULER SMITH, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Certainly breathtaking, unbelievable. Thought about the fact that that could have been anyone, including myself.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): The district attorney has charged Daryl Deadman, the teen driving the truck that killed Anderson, with capital murder. A second teen, John Rice, has been charged with simple assault. Five other white teenagers who were there have not been charged. Anderson's family has kept their grief and frustration mostly private, but after a court hearing, Anderson's sister could not contain her emotions.

BARBARA ANDERSON YOUNG: Go to Brandon, Mississippi. Go to Brandon, Mississippi, and get those other five murderers who committed such a horrendous, violent act against my beloved brother, James Craig Anderson.

GRIFFIN: You have to drive east to get to Brandon. Across the Pearl River, the invisible line that seems to separate black Mississippi from white. And while in Jackson, Anderson's killing has prompted marches and a call for healing. In Brandon the reaction has been mostly silent.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Drew Griffin joins us with this hearing that's taking place. And Drew, it's really -- it's kind of hard to understand and believe. But this was a group of teenagers who went looking, right, for a black man and ended up beating him up and then running the car over him afterwards?

GRIFFIN: Right. What was so heinous about this crime and why it immediately appeared to be nothing but a hate crime was these kids basically went on a hunt. They went hunting for a black person to mess with. That's, by their own words -- by their own words told to police, by witnesses. They found a black guy, they beat him up and then Daryl Deadman was charged with driving him over and killing him as kind of a -- like a last step in that night.

Now today, we understand Daryl Deadman will plead guilty to murder in Hinds County criminal court, and we're not quite sure of the sentencing. We're getting this from sources, but we expect this case to have even more ramifications down the road.

MALVEAUX: Do we know anything about the other teenagers who were involved in this and what happens with them?

GRIFFIN: One other teenager was charged criminally with simple assault. That's in a Hinds County court. What we understand is the federal government has been in on this pretty early. The Department of Justice has been looking at the entire case and the history of all seven of these teenagers who left a party, drove 20 miles or so to find a black person to beat up. And from our sources, we understand tomorrow those five remaining teenagers and Mr. Deadman, and possibly Mr. Rice, will all appear in a federal court or be charged in a federal court with some type of hate crime violations.

MALVEAUX: And what is the family looking for? Is this going to satisfy them when they hear this?

GRIFFIN: The family is looking for justice involving all the cases. You heard the sister's frustration at the court hearing where the others weren't charged. It's our understanding that the family is on board with this. They never wanted the death penalty for Daryl Deadman. They just wanted justice and they wanted all of those who deliberately took part in this act to be charged. It appears they will be satisfied with what takes place tomorrow. We'll know that tomorrow when there's a news conference in the afternoon.

MALVEAUX: And, Drew, speak about the community. How has this impacted the community? You were there from the very beginning covering this tragedy.

GRIFFIN: It is really a tale of two communities, quite frankly. You have a white town where these teenagers came from, which has been somewhat nonchalant about the event, calling these guys a bunch of bad apples. And then you have the town of Jackson, which is just outraged that a group of teenagers, anywhere in Mississippi, could have the hatred inside them that they would literally drive 20 miles or so just to find a neighborhood that has a black person that they could beat up. It was really that deliberate according to all the police records we've seen.

MALVEAUX: All right. Drew will be following this story very closely. And again, thank you. Excellent reporting.

GRIFFIN: Thanks.

MALVEAUX: Well, remember the day when you can enjoy, perhaps, I don't know, a beautiful day, a delicious meal and you didn't have to have your Twitter feed clogged up hearing about it from everybody else? But Twitter turns six today. Are we really better off? We're going to talk about that next.

By the way, you can follow me on twitter @suzannemalveaux.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: All right, 300 million users. Today they're all hoping to mark a milestone as Twitter turns six years old. Phil Han, he has more on the Twitter time line.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL HAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Six years old today and Twitter keeps on growing. On this day in 2006, co-creator Jack Dorsey tweeted these five words. Back then, users had to send in tweets via text. There's been a radical transformation from phones to computers to tablets. Today, Twitter has over 500 million users and is one of the most influential social media tools. In many ways, the charge over recent years was led by tech savvy celebs like Ashton Kutcher.

ASHTON KUTCHER, ACTOR: If I beat CNN to 1 million followers, I will literally go and ding dong ditch Ted Turner's house while I'm in Atlanta.

HAN: But, right now, the Twitter king title belongs to Justin Bieber, who was frequently a top trend on the site. Other celebrities have endorsed products and even had public meltdowns.

CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: If I'm bipolar, aren't there moments where a guy like crashes, like, in the corner. Oh, like, oh, my God, it's all my mom's fault? Shut up.

HAN: Politicians have signed up to Twitter, too. President Obama held the first ever Twitter town hall at the White House last year. The hash tag "Ask Obama" was quickly a top trend.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am going to make history here as the first president to live tweet.

HAN: Unfortunately, things don't go to plan for everyone, especially when you tweet photos like this. Congressman Anthony Weiner was caught out online in this Twitter scandal. It got so bad it cost him his job.

ANTHONY WEINER, FORMER CONGRESSMAN: Today I am announcing my resignation from Congress. HAN: And some tweeters have gone from unknowns to something of a star overnight. During the raid by U.S. forces, a lone Pakistani man happened to be tweeting what he was hearing. Only later did Soah Hathar (ph) realize what had just happened.

OBAMA: The United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda.

HAN: Yanis Crum (ph) was another unknown tweeter flung into the spotlight. In January 2009, he tweeted the first photo of a U.S. Airways plane that had landed in the Hudson.

Twitter had become the place to go for breaking news. But perhaps the most revolutionary role of Twitter was its role in the Arab Spring. From Bahrain to Egypt, millions turned to Twitter to organize protests, share information, and help bring down leaders. Happy birthday, Twitter.

Phil Han, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: All right, from trading (ph) to posting, liking, disliking, all words that we live by now, literally. Millions of people across the world in Twitter and Facebook have combined to create this kind of new reality. I want to bring in psychologist Wendy Walsh, who joins us from Los Angeles.

And, Wendy, I have to admit, I got on Facebook and Twitter kicking and screaming. My first tweet was back in 2009. I wrote, "at the White House. Obama to meet with NATO head in a few hours. Big story - Obama's trip on the hill to sell his budget. Tough sell." I mean, that one was kind of dry, but that was my effort at getting involved in all of this. I mean, in some ways it's good. It's great. It gives us a way to reach out to the viewers, to get their feedback, collect news, but what are the drawbacks here? Does this work?

DR. WENDY WALSH, PSYCHOLOGIST: So, basically, what it's doing is in some ways helping keep us connected but we're not really -- we're in touch but we're not touching anything tender. These limits of 140 characters means that it becomes a moving billboard of who our performance personality is, who our public personality is.

It also creates a kind of attention deficit disorder, as you will, because we're always checking, we're attached to our smartphone as a leash now, afraid that we're going to miss out on something. And it becomes addictive because it's a random interval reward system just like a slot machine in Vegas. So everyone's wallet pays off with a good tweet, but the rest of the time it's a lot of boring stuff.

MALVEAUX: Wow, slot machine in Vegas. That's a pretty tough sell.

WALSH: It is.

MALVEAUX: I mean, have we become more shallow in our communicating within 140 characters? WALSH: I think we have. We've become more shallow when we're also sort of believing our own press, if you will. The good side of that is that, you know, as studies have shown, that when people check their Facebook and Twitter profiles regularly, they tend to have less depression and they tend to have higher self-esteem because, of course, we only put the best pictures of us out there and we only say the most wonderful things about us, right? Or our friends. If we do say something negative, like I'm having a bad day --

MALVEAUX: Right.

WALSH: Then you have friends saying, oh, you know, we love you. And so it helps you feel good.

MALVEAUX: Is there a downside to that? I mean, do we become more narcissistic and self-absorbed when we put out these pictures, we're documenting and posting all these things? Does it alter our reality in some way?

WALSH: Well, some of the recent research coming out is showing that really it's just a reflection of who we are anyway, our personality. In other words, extroverts are more likely to use Twitter and Facebook. There are a lot of people on Facebook that I call watchers. They're just lurkers and lookers and they don't really comment. And then you run into them at a party and they're like, hey, I hard you've been doing this, because they're watching but they're not really extroverts. So the kind of personality we have is very reflected in how we use social networking.

MALVEAUX: And, Wendy, do you think this is -- this is six years old now. Do you think this is going to last a long time? Are we at this point where, you know, we're in it and this is the way it is or could this go away at some point?

WALSH: I think it's going to last. It's going to grow bigger. I think most of the social networking eventually -- my prediction -- are going to merge in some way, so it will be one push, one tweet that goes out to five or six places. That's already happening with some of the software out there. But the danger is that people don't pick up their phones anymore. They're not talking. They're not even listening to voice mail.

So the fact that the younger generation are only having text-based relationships really reduces their relationship skills. So I feel that the survival of the smartest, if you will, in the next generation will be those people who can still talk and touch and get all the messages that you get through body language and smell and vocal tone and everything else.

MALVEAUX: All right. One of the things, Wendy, that Twitter is good with is actually getting news. And I do want you to know, and our viewers to know, we are getting some news. And this is from a tweet. The official Jets Twitter account, the New York Jets, now saying they have just announced they have agreed on a trade with Denver Broncos for quarterback Tim Tebow. That's right. That is coming from their tweet right there. Getting it firsthand that he's going to the New York Jets. There you go. All right.

WALSH: Big news. The big news.

MALVEAUX: Thank you, Wendy. Appreciate it.

WALSH: Thanks.

MALVEAUX: We're going to take a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here's a rundown on some of the stories that we are working on next.

His death has sparked outrage across the country. So what does Trayvon Martin's story mean for other African-American teens?

Then, Ashton Kutcher, he has conquered the Twitterverse (sic). Now he wants to take on outer space. Yes, that's right.

And, later, the supermarkets. They call it lean, finely textured beef. Everybody else is calling it pink slime.

The shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, hits close to home for many African-American families. Black parents are often fearful for their children, particularly boys. Some prepare them with instructions about how to react if stopped by police, even how to behave in public. Corey Dade, he's a national correspondent at NPR and he posted an article today about this very subject at the NPR website. He's joining us from Washington.

Corey, good to see you.

COREY DADE, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, NPR: Hi, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Joining us from New York, blogger Michael Skolnik. He's written a powerful article on his blog, globalgrind.com, entitled "White Guy in a Hoodie." His position is that white people, even wearing a hoodie, quote, "never look suspicious."

Corey, I want to start with you because you wrote this very powerful article and you say your parents gave you the talk, if you will, when you were growing up, a list of things that, as a black man, you should never do. And you outline this. You say never loiter outside anywhere. Never leave a store without a shopping bag. Never go anywhere alone. Never talk back to police. And never doubt that trouble may strike anytime, anywhere.

Corey, why did you get that talk? Why did they tell you that?

DADE: Well, I think part of it was informed by my parents' upbringing. My father was raised in the segregated south. My mother was raised in the Midwest in an integrated environment, but she still experienced racism. So coming to Washington, D.C., it was at a time when -- I grew up, born and raised in Washington, D.C., about a mile outside the city. It came at a time when the murder rate in D.C. was the highest in the nation. The crack epidemic was just sweeping that city and many other urban cities. So there were all these challenges. On top of that, you also had perceptions out there. And the sort of golden rule that my parents gave me was that I have to essentially control for other people's perceptions of me. And that's sort of where it started.

MALVEAUX: And, Corey, did you ever have any problems? Were you ever confronted by police or neighbors or people who felt you were suspicious when you grew up?

DADE: I was. I was a quote, unquote, "normal kid," had a normal experience. I was comfortable in many different racially mixed environments, but I certainly had my run-ins with police. I have been stopped because I fit the description of a suspect they were looking for. I tell the story, the account in my story about my brother being descended upon by police officers because he was at his car in a subdivision where we were visiting. And the circumstances there were much like -- or similar to Trayvon Martin's circumstances. But you name it, being suspicious as a customer in a store, being suspicious in an elevator, seeing a woman sort of grab her purse a little bit tighter just as soon as I stepped on.

MALVEAUX: Corey, I want to bring in Michael Skolnik.

Michael, in your blog, you describe a very different experience as a white person. And you write, "I will never look suspicious even if I have a black hoodie, a pair of jeans, and white sneakers on. No matter how much the hoodie covers my face or how baggy my jeans are, I will never look out of place to you."

Why do you suppose that you're given the benefit of the doubt?

MICHAEL SKOLNIK, BLOGGER, GLOBALGRIND.COM: Well, I'm given the benefit of the doubt because of the color of my skin, in my opinion. I think what Corey is saying, you know, I wore a black hoodie and a pair of jeans and white sneakers on Sunday walking around New York City, and I could put my hand out and a taxicab will stop. I can walk on the street and no woman would ever grab her purse in fear of me. I could go to a restaurant and no one is going to ask me to pay before I eat.

Trayvon Martin had the same outfit I had on, a hoodie, a pair of jeans, and a pair of white sneakers. It wasn't about what he wore. it was the color of his skin. No one would ever stop me as I'm walking through a neighborhood, no matter what I have on, and say what are you doing here? No one will call 911 and say, he looked suspicious.

So I wrote this piece challenging my people, white people, that we have a choice. I was given a hand and the card came out of the deck and I came out a white man in America. I'm not ashamed of it. I'm not guilty. That's what I got. But I do have a choice. And my choice is to stand up for Trayvon Martin and say his death will affect me. If I'm quiet -- two weeks ago, my white colleagues and white friends were ferocious about tweeting about Joseph Kony and stopping Kony, which is a great movement.

MALVEAUX: Right.

SKOLNIK: But just four days ago, we were quiet. And I don't want to be quiet.

MALVEAUX: Michael, how do you take the burden off Corey and others like Corey, because they're saying the burden is for us to alter our behavior, to act differently, to reassure people they're OK in the neighborhood? How do you put the burden back on people who are suspicious of black teens?

SKOLNIK: We need an honest conversation about race. My thoughts and prayers are with the family of Trayvon Martin. This will happen again unless we have an honest conversation about race.

This is racial profiling at its worst. It's happening all across this country. It's happening to young black men every single day, walking through white communities, walking through black communities, walking through mixed communities. So I think that we have to have an honest conversation about race. And white people, frankly, have to come to the table and be honest. I'm privileged. I'm white. I'm a man. I'm American. I'm privileged. I know I'm privileged. I don't have the same experiences as Corey.

MALVEAUX: And, Corey, just if I can end this with you, the kinds of things that your parents said to you never do, these rules, are you passing them down, will you pass them down to your own children? Do you think that's still necessary today?

DADE: I am a father. I am a father of a daughter. But to some degree, yes, I will pass them down. I think they will be informed by my own personal experiences, which are a little different from my parents', but those lessons have already begun.

MALVEAUX: All right.

Thank you very much, both of you, for being so candid. Corey as well as Michael, really appreciate it.

SKOLNIK: You're welcome.

DADE: Thank you, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Thank you.

Sean Penn, he got a lot of flack from some folks for lending a helping hand in Haiti after the disaster struck. Now some Nobel Peace Prize winners are honoring the actor's good work. That coming up in "Showbiz" update.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Oscar winner, Sean Penn, about to win another award. This one from Nobel laureates.

Kareen Wynter is joining us from Los Angeles.

Kareen, tell us about -- this is Sean Penn the activist, right?

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Suzanne. The often controversial Sean Penn is making headlines again but in a good way this time. It's for his charitable work. You see next month, Penn will be recognized by a group of Nobel Peace Prize winners for his work in Haiti's earthquake recovery efforts.

Each year, the group honors a cultural or entertainment personality who promotes peace and standing up for human rights. This year, the Peace Summit Award will go to Penn. He's a founder of the J.P. Haitian Relief Organization, which managed a camp for 50,000 people left without homes following the 2010 earthquake. The agency is still working in Haiti to help lift the country out of poverty. And Penn insists he's there for the long haul. The actor and activist issued a statement saying, "I am thrilled to receive this tribute and to represent it to the youth of Haiti, the strong women of Haiti and of the world." Good news for Sean Penn.

MALVEAUX: Yes, he was there for a while, wasn't he, Kareen?

WYNTER: Yes, he was.

MALVEAUX: What about Ashton Kutcher? I understand you have something about him going into space. Is that right?

(LAUGHTER)

WYNTER: For a mere 200 grand, can you believe that?

MALVEAUX: What?

WYNTER: Ashton, he signed on to become the 500th passenger on Richard Branson's commercial space program.

MALVEAUX: Really? Wow.

WYNTER: Yes, Virgin Galactic. Branson announced the news on his blog, writing, "I gave Ashton a quick call to congratulation and welcome him. He's as thrilled as we are at the prospect of being among the first to cross the final frontier and back with us, and to experience the magic of space for himself."

Branson's space program hasn't sent anyone into orbit just yet but he says they're in the final stages of production on their spaceship. The billionaire and his family plan to be the first passengers on board. There are other reported celebrities who signed up to take off into space, like Brad and Angelina, Tom Hanks, Katy Perry. Not sure, Suzanne, if this is a mission you'd want to be a part of. I'm not that courageous. I couldn't fork up that dough.

(LAUGHTER)

200 grand, that's a lot of money.

MALVEAUX: I will just wait for others to do it first.

(CROSSTALK)

WYNTER: We'll see how it goes. Exactly.

MALVEAUX: Exactly.

WYNTER: I'm with you.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: We'll stay down here on earth.

All right, thanks, Kareen.

Don't forget to catch "Showbiz Tonight" on HLN week nights at 11:00 p.m. eastern.

So there is something going bump in the night in this Wisconsin town. Are where these loud mysterious booms coming from? Got everybody wondering.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: So you remember those old sci-fi movies, people hear strange noises in the night. Well, it is happening for real in one Wisconsin town. At least that's what some people in Clintonville are telling us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sounded like a bomb going off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like little tremors.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The house is shaking, the window are shaking. It was quite loud. It sounded like it was in the house almost.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: All right. What's really going on, Chad? Tell us. Do you have some ideas? Is this real? Is this not real?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Of course, it's real. They're hearing it. It's happening. Windows are rattling, the pipes are shaking, things like that, but it's odd that it's only happening in one town. We're trying to put a phenomenon. Is it really because there's no snow on the ground?

It's been 85 degrees. Could that have anything to do with it? But you would think it just wouldn't be the northeast part of one town, in northeastern Wisconsin that's doing this, right? There would be other places. So I think it's manmade. I honestly do. I think something underground is rattling, going bump in the night. Things go bump in the night, not bang in the night. That's the odd thing. But some guy was in Charlottesville about a week before the earthquake that hit Virginia and D.C., said he heard booms in the middle of the night and, a week later, there was the big earthquake that even damaged the Washington Monument, so it could be something rumbling, something almost getting to crack. They don't think it's part of the sewer system.

Here is what they've ruled out or at least they could rule back in, I suppose. But they ruled it out so far. They have ruled out earthquake activity, water or sewer systems. They've ruled out elevated gas levels and blasting or mining, because there really isn't any in the area, and usual drilling. We don't know of anything called fracking in the area, nothing so far.

No businesses or any military installations have closed. So what could it be? Gas maybe escaping from the ground. I would think that would sound more like a hiss than a boom. A rock burst, which means rocks are cracking just to stress, but not sliding, so not an earthquake. And the earth can do strange things we don't even know about. You can Google it. It's called Seneca guns, and it's happened in upstate New York for decades.

MALVEAUX: Yes. I was going to ask you, has this happened anywhere else besides this town?

(LAUGHTER)

MYERS: Other than that one guy who heard it in Virginia before the earthquake, it does happen. It's happened in the Carolinas. It's happened in New York. And it happens overseas.

MALVEAUX: How long is it going to happen? Will they have to deal with this for a while?

MYERS: Maybe.

MALVEAUX: Really?

MYERS: And it wakes them up. It's odd that it only happens at night. People have been tweeting me saying, it's because it's quiet at night. There's something going on in the night. Maybe a pump in the water system. I don't know. But I think it's manmade. We'll see

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: Or extraterrestrial. You never know.

MYERS: It could be.

MALVEAUX: Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: I'm not ruling anything out.

MALVEAUX: I'm not either.

(LAUGHTER) If you eat ground beef, you might be eating something known as pink slime. That's right. A major grocery chain says it's going to stop selling it now.

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MALVEAUX: Many of you might be sitting down to lunch right now. Listen up. You like burgers, chili, other foods with ground beef, we have some bad news for you. A major supermarket chain has decided to stop selling a controversial filler in beef that the public has now come to call pink slime.

Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, joins us live to talk about, first of all, what is this stuff? What is pink slime and why are people repulsed by this?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Pink slime is something meat companies put into mess, as you said, as a filler, and it's a combination of connective tissue and trimmings. So the public has come to call it pink slime. A lot of people say it's more dangerous than regular meat. It's not a nutritious as regular meat.

The meat industry calls it lean, finely textured beef. They're not doing this in secret. The FDA knows about it. And the FDA says this stuff is safe. Costco, Safeway, Whole Foods, among others, have decided to just not -- and say in the future they'll take it off their shelves.

MALVEAUX: And this pink slime, you referred to it as the kind of meat that's engaged in fecal matter and all this other kind of --

COHEN: I'm going to quote a Senator on fecal matter, because he put it better than I have ever could. Let's look at what Senator Bob Menendez, from New Jersey, wrote to Tom Vilsack, the USDA secretary. Concerned about pink slime, he said, "The leftover scraps, in other words, the stuff in pink slime come from parts of the cow with high exposure to fecal matter."

So that's his concern. That's why they treat this pink slime with something called ammonium hydroxide to get rid of any kind of, you know, infection in the meat. The Senator says that they don't -- that doesn't always work. And he says you're still getting a higher infection rate from pink slime than you would from other cuts of meat.

MALVEAUX: So the FDA says this is safe, the pink slime. Why is it now stores are saying we don't want this stuff anymore?

COHEN: I think basically some people don't trust the FDA. It appears Senator Menendez does not trust the FDA. I think other folks, bloggers, people who write about food, people who write about food safety. I mean, this has become a big deal. So these food companies would rather say, you know, FDA, I know you say it's safe, but frankly, our customers are getting worried about this, let's just not go there anymore.

MALVEAUX: How do you know if there's pink slime in your food? COHEN: You don't. I've been told if you have a hunk of hamburger with pink slime and a hunk without it, you do not know the difference. And it does not have to be labeled.

MALVEAUX: And you can't find out?

COHEN: If you go to one of these stores that says they're getting rid of it. That would give you some level of assurance it's not there. But I will say, if you go to Safeway now, it can still be on the shelves. They say they're going to get rid of it. You know, they're working on it.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: Thank you. You're ruining my appetite.

Thank you, Elizabeth. Appreciate it.

Parents, we want you to be aware. The number of children dying from medication poisonings is on the rise. That includes prescription and over-the-counter drugs. There's a new report by Safe Kids Worldwide that says, each day, roughly four school bus-loads of American children, about 165 kids, are seen in emergency rooms after getting into medications. Most of those happen when young children are unsupervised.

Thousands have died in Syria since the trouble began there a year ago. But now a human rights group says the opposition may have blood on its hands as well.

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MALVEAUX: 10,000 people, most of them civilians, that's the reported death toll after one year of fighting between the Syrian Army and the people who are demanding change there. But human rights groups say it's not one sided. People fighting against the army are to blame for some of the killing, the torture and executions.

I want you to see this report. This is from Anwa Damon.

I have to warn you, there are some graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The battle for Syria is getting uglier. This man is allegedly one of the much feared government militia known as (INAUDIBLE). Captured and interrogated by the Free Syrian Army, he's accused of lying and then his interrogator asks someone to bring the electricity machine.

This video was uploaded in September. There have been many more since. This one posted to YouTube in January. Again, the men in the video identify themselves as being with the Free Syrian Army. Hanged from a tree, a man they say is the deadliest. They say he killed unarmed demonstrators, so they killed him. Summary justice. In another video, from January, a bruised and bloodied man is identified as a member of the air force intelligence battalion, based in Homs. He is interrogated. Clearly under duress, the man says he killed people for demonstrating against President Assad, that he slaughtered people. "What do you request before you die," the interrogator demands. "For God's sake, please."

Though not widespread at this stage, it's a trend that worries Human Rights Watch which has asked the Syrian National Council to condemn kidnappings and the use of torture by regime opponents. There's also a growing sectarian edge to Syrian's violence.

In January, CNN met an Alowite family that said they fled from Homs after being threatened for supporting the Assad regime. Human Rights Watch also said it collected evidence that certain armed attacks by opposition groups were more elevated by anti-Shia or anti- Alowite sentiments arising from the association of these communities with government policies.

The release goes on to state, "The Syrian government's brutal tactics cannot justify abuse by opposition groups." The Syrian opposition acknowledges that some violations have taken place, but it says it doesn't compare to the atrocities of the regime.

AUSAMA MONAJED, SYRIAN NATIONAL COUNCIL SPOKESMAN: You can not expect those who have lost family members, who have seen their wives being raped, their children being slaughtered, to remain rational and remain thinking about every action they made.

DAMON: But the Syrian opposition so splintered, hatred against the government and its supporters running deeper by the day. Such abuses will be difficult to prevent.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Don Lemon, who is in for our Brooke Baldwin.

Hey, Don.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Suzanne. How are you? Good to see you.